21.06.2017, 18:26

Retail Therapy

Welcoming thousands of visitors and hundreds of vehicles, shopping centres often require complex and exhaustive facilities maintenance. A case-study by Belzona focuses on the repair of flooring and cementitious products in a Brisbane shopping mall.

Welcoming thousands of visitors and hundreds of vehicles, shopping centres often require complex and exhaustive facilities maintenance and active management of sites to ensure compliance with health and safety measures. One such shopping centre situated in the Bayside Suburbs of Brisbane, Australia suffered from a range of issues and Belzona’s Australian Distributor, Rezitech, proposed a range of solutions in 2013 that have been implemented during the last four years.

Repairs to a variety of buildings and structures have been completed alongside work by the site's facilities maintenance company, and have extended to the car park, access ramps, kerbs, shop floors and walls - as well as concrete surrounding steel gratings and expansion joints.

Revamping indoor floors

The 33,102 m2 of retail floor space is home to 110 stores and businesses, all of which are subject to high levels of foot traffic as customers traverse the concrete, tiles, and linoleum every day. Significantly, these pedestrian areas are prone to continual wear and abrasion and are closely monitored for excessive deterioration. In partnership with the Facilities Maintenance company, Rezitech has helped to alleviate many of the issues brought about by these factors, on one such occasion in the Fruit and Butcher shop on site.

In this instance, there was a need to recoat the floor as several concrete areas were damaged and the old coating had delaminated in many places. Highlighted as an issue during a Health Inspection audit, Rezitech tackled the damaged concrete floor using Belzona 4111 (Magma-Quartz), a fast-curing concrete repair material. Accompanied by a two-part floor coating, to improve abrasion and slip resistance, the shop floor was reinstated quickly with minimal disruption.

Concrete damage curbed

Constant traffic from customers and deliveries is something that cannot be curbed, but the progressive wear and deterioration of car park areas certainly can be. After speaking to the site’s Operations Manager, Rezitech were made aware of several areas that could easily be repaired using Belzona materials, including the concrete floor and expansion joints. However, kerbs navigating traffic around the car park were needing immediate attention due to spalling or detachment from the concrete substrate beneath.

Sometimes this required refitting or even the creation of a new kerb. In Winter 2013, this specific application was required after damage to the kerb warranted its removal and replacement. Using a wooden former, Belzona 4111 (Magma-Quartz) was applied into the design, re-creating the original kerb profile. Once the concrete repair material had sufficiently cured, the former was removed leaving the perfectly-formed kerb, ready to be painted.

Shopping Spree

At the last inspection in late 2016, these repairs were still in excellent condition. Additional repairs have since been conducted to broken sections of concrete and failed cementitious products, and shopping centre Operations Manager Robert Visser even admits: “At first, we were sceptical of the products’ performance, as many others had made similar claims. However, we soon revised our scepticism as quick curing times are a substantial benefit that allows repair areas to reopen quickly and minimise disruption to shoppers".

Following the recommendation of Robert, Rezitech has already begun associated applications with other sites including 20 centres across Queensland, Australia.

About Belzona International

Established in 1952, Belzona is a leading company in the design and manufacture of polymer repair composites and industrial protective coatings for the protection and improvement of machinery, equipment, buildings and structures. Belzona has over 140 Distributors in more than 120 countries. Distributorships and their teams are supported by Belzona Corporate offices in Europe, North America and Asia. For more information, visit www.belzona.com.